A Second Chance
by ahrocks08
Summary: The Doctor and Rose are both miserable in their separate Universes. All they want is a second chance. What if the impossible could happen?


Hi! I haven't posted anything on here for ages! Surprise! I wrote this for my sister for Christmas, and decided to put it up here too. This takes place after Season 3, and I disregard what happens in Journey's End...

I don't own anything familiar...

"_I…I…I love you."_

"_Quite right, too. And I suppose, if it's my last chance to say it. Rose Tyler…"_

Six months. That's how long she had been stuck on this parallel Earth. Six long months of waking up every morning wishing she was on the Tardis, going through the motions of the day, and crying every night for what could have been if things had been different at Canary Wharf. Six months spent thinking of the Doctor constantly. She wondered if he thought of her. She hoped he did. She hoped that her heartbreak wasn't one sided. She was sure he felt more for her than just friends. His goodbye to her on Bad Wolf Bay gave her hope of that.

Rose tried to live a normal life, really she did. She had gotten a job at Torchwood, working with identifying alien species and improving the relations between Earth and the aliens. She loved her job. It was something that she was good at doing. Her time with the Doctor had helped with that. The only problem was that work only took up so much of her time. There was so much more time that she had nothing to do, so she always ended up thinking of the Doctor.

She loved the Doctor. She would always love the Doctor; nothing was going to change that. Her mother had suggested going on dates, but she couldn't bring herself to even think about a relationship with any man that wasn't the Doctor. She had resigned herself to living her life alone, because if she wasn't with the Doctor, then it wasn't worth it to be with anyone else.

After finishing her work one Friday afternoon, Rose left Torchwood to go back to her parent's estate outside of London. She was planning on spending a lovely afternoon with her mother, who was pregnant, and having a bit of a hard time of it. Rose and Jackie hadn't had a lot of time to talk recently, as they had both been busy; Jackie with preparing for the baby and Rose with her work. They planned to spend the whole weekend catching up and spending time together. "Just like it was before you met the Doctor," Jackie had told Rose when they were planning it.

Rose missed spending time with her mum. They talked about the baby. It was going to be a boy, named Tony, and Jackie and Pete couldn't be more pleased. Jackie told Rose stories of her when she was a baby. She talked about how Rose had the cutest little blonde curls when she was a toddler, and how she wished she still had the pictures. But they were stuck in the other universe with everything else that Jackie had kept from Rose's childhood. She planned to make up for it with Tony, though. He was going to be the most well documented child in the whole universe.

After hours of talking with Jackie, and reminiscing about their old life (she's not going to lie, there was a lot of laughter and a few tears), Rose headed off to bed. Now more than ever she wished she could find a way back to the other universe. She missed the Doctor dearly, and talking to her mother had reminded her how much she had really left on the other side of that wall. She had lost her friends, all of her old stuff, and her old life.

She wasn't too concerned about her old life. She had already decided that she was done with that life when she was traveling with the Doctor, but now there wasn't even a chance of convincing the Doctor to take her to Earth so she could go for a visit with her mom, enjoy a cuppa, and get some milk from the store before getting back in the Tardis and going on their way to their next adventure. That life was over. And there wasn't anything in world, this one or his, that she wanted more than to have just one more day with the Doctor. She wanted to run to him, hug him tightly, kiss him passionately, and tell him that she loved him with all her heart, and hear the words in return. She would give anything to have one more chance with the man that she loves. That night she went to bed thinking of her old life on the Tardis and her dreams were filled with the Doctor.

"_And quite an eye for pretty girls."_

"_Oh, she's just an invention, this character. Rose, I call her. Rose."_

The Doctor had just left Martha with her family, and he was feeling a little lost. It was days like today where he found his life hard to deal with. All the pain of losing friends, and even enemies, and all the suffering he, Jack, Martha, and her family had gone through in the year that never was, sometimes it was just too much. If he was honest with himself, he missed the times he had with Rose. Sure, there were some dangerous times, but with Rose with him, it never seemed so bad.

Ever since he had lost Rose his life had just not been the same. Maybe it was because with Rose, he had felt so alive. More alive than what he had ever felt. Rose would always be in his heart; his journal from when he was human proved that. He regretted the way things ended with Martha, he had a lot of great times with her and she was a great help in many situations. And brave. She had been so brave in the year that never was. _But she wasn't Rose. _Deep down, he knew that no one could ever be like Rose, but that didn't change that fact that he wanted her back.

He never used to allow himself to ask, "What if?" But after Canary Wharf, he couldn't help himself. What if he had been holding the other side? What if Rose had stayed in the Tardis? What if the lever hadn't slipped? But worst of all, What if Pete hadn't been there to catch Rose? He tried not to think about that last one too much, that would have been so much worse. At least this way he knew that she was alive and safe. Well, as safe as Rose could be, she did seem to be a danger magnet.

The Doctor always wished he had more time to say good bye to her. He didn't even get to tell her he loved her. That was his biggest regrets. They would now spend lifetimes apart and she would never know for certain how he felt about her. How she had changed his life in the best way possible. How he thought about her constantly. Even in the most dangerous situations, Rose was always in his thoughts. And now she would never know how he wished he would have done something long before Canary Wharf. How he wanted to hold her in his arms and kiss her and tell her that he loved her with both of his hearts and would for the rest of his lives.

Now she would never know, and that was the most heartbreaking thing of all. Just as he was thinking this last thought, the Tardis shifted violently and the Doctor lost his balance, hitting his head against the rail in the console room. As he slipped into unconsciousness, Rose was in the forefront of his mind.

"_How long are you going to stay with me?"_

"_Forever."_

When Rose woke the next morning, she mentally went through a checklist of things she had to do: get ready, eat breakfast, go to work, eat lunch, work some more, pick up dry cleaning, come home, eat dinner, do something for a few hours, go to bed. Not a very exciting day, but it was a routine she was used to.

Except…

Except something was different. This was _not _the bed she fell asleep in last night. This bed was softer…and fluffier. She looked around her room in confusion. Except this wasn't her room. Well, it was her room, but not the room she fell asleep in last night. _This_ was her room on the Tardis. "I must still be dreaming," she thought to herself. Because how else could she be in her room on the Tardis. The Tardis that was a universe away.

The room was exactly the way she remembered it, right down to the clothes she had discarded on the floor, clean and dirty, and the make up she had been wearing when she was traveling on the Tardis. Even the magazines and books she had been reading were right where she had left them. She could hear the Tardis' familiar whirring, and took in even more of her surroundings. The Tardis even smelled the same and _felt_ the same. She decided that her subconscious was playing a cruel trick on her. It was hard enough as it was, but now to have such a vivid dream like this…it was enough to make her want to spend the entire day in bed crying for her Doctor all over again.

Then Rose had a change of heart and decided that if this was indeed a dream, then she might as well take advantage of it, without thinking about the consequences. So she took off in search for the console room and her beloved Doctor.

"_Oh but your heart grows cold. A north wind blows and carries down the distant... Rose"_

"_Oh big mistake! Because that name keeps me fighting!"_

When the Doctor came to, he had a few choice words. He didn't particularly like being taken out by his own ship, even if it wasn't her fault. Then again, he did sense the Tardis chuckling at him. It was probably from the lack of grace he had exhibited in his fall. This, of course, caused more muttering. He went to the console to see what had happened, and whether or not it was anything serious.

The Doctor's hearts just about stopped at what his screens showed him.

There on the screen was something he never thought he would ever see. But there it was staring him in the face. A single, tiny crack in the Universe. A perfectly safe, nearly undetectable to anyone or anything but a Tardis crack in the Universe. No one else would be able to detect it, much less use it without the power of the Tardis. And the best part was that this made travel between worlds possible. He could get his Rose back.

The Doctor was elated! This could possibly be the happiest moment of his life. The Doctor was so happy that he let out a whoop of delight and went about setting coordinates for London, England, UK, Earth, Pete's World. He was practically running around the console in his haste to get to his Rose. So busy that he didn't seem to notice the Tardis kept undoing all his work. He just kept running in circles flipping switches, pulling levers, and pushing buttons. It wasn't until his fifth or so time around that he noticed what was going on and sensed the Tardis chuckling at him again.

"This has really got to stop," he said to the Tardis, "Don't you want to see Rose too?" With this he started flipping switches and pulling levers again. Then he heard the most beautiful sound in the Universe.

"Doctor?"

"_I made my choice a long time ago, and I'm never going to leave you."_

As Rose walked into console room, she heard the Doctor talking to the Tardis: something she had always made fun of him for. In truth, she found it cute…not that she would ever tell him that. "Doctor?" she called to him, "Are you still talking to the Tardis?"

"Rose." The Doctor responded almost reverently. Then he ran to give her the most passionate hug. Rose responded just as passionately. He was wrong. _This_ was the happiest moment of his life

"Oh Doctor! I'm so glad to see you even if this is just a dream. I miss you so much. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of you. I wish there was a way for me to get back to you." Rose poured her emotions out to her dream Doctor. Maybe this could be therapeutic, letting out her emotions to the Doctor even if he wasn't real.

"Rose." The Doctor tried to get her attention. "Rose, this isn't a dream. You really are back. I don't know how you got back, but you really are here. I just, well, when I say I just, I actually mean the Tardis just discovered a crack in time. A safe crack in time. One that is really only detectable by the Tardis. Ooh, I bet that is why the Tardis lurched…and then the Tardis must have brought you back while I was unconscious. You know, because the Tardis is brilliant like that. And do you know what is even better? It is a _permanent _crack which means that we can go back and visit your family whenever you want! Isn't that brilliant, Rose? I mean, that is, if you still want to travel with me."

"You're joking," was Rose's only response to the Doctor's typical, long, rambling speech.

"No…" the Doctor continued. He had to convince her. "This really is for real. You really are back with me on the Tardis, and the Tardis has found a way for you to stay in contact with your family. Isn't that brilliant?"

"Oh Doctor, I believe you about the crack and all the stuff about traveling between times. Now that I am talking to you, I can tell that this is, in fact, what I have been dreaming about for quite some time. I just can't believe you would even question whether or not I would want to travel with you."

"Well…"

"Of course I want to travel with you Doctor! I have been dreaming of nothing else my whole time stuck in the other Universe but a second chance to be with you."

"I'm so glad to hear you say that, Rose. I don't think I would be able to handle losing you again."

At this, Rose gave the Doctor another hug, and the two sat on the captain's chair in the console room talking excitedly to one another. Hours later, after the Doctor and Rose had caught up in each other's lives, Rose brought up something she had been working up the courage to ask him since he had convinced her that this was not a dream.

"Doctor," she hesitated, not quite sure she wanted the answer. "Doctor, when we said good bye, you were in the middle of a sentence. Do you remember how that sentence was going to end?"

The Doctor looked at her with an expression in his eyes that she couldn't quite read. Love? Passion? She couldn't be sure.

"Of course I do, Rose. It is one of the things I regret the most about our separation." Rose's breath hitched. "I was going to say, 'Rose Tyler, I love you.'"

The End


End file.
